Suspicion

Many thought the election of our first African American president put an end to the conversation about race in this country, and that America had moved into a post-racial era of equality and opportunity. Then, on the night of February 26, 2012, a black seventeen-year-old boy walking to a friend's home carrying only his cell phone, candy, and a fruit drink, was shot and killed by a neighborhood watch coordinator.

When director David Merrill (Robert De Niro) returns to the United States from Paris, he is called before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Though he is not a communist, he refuses to cooperate in order to protect his friend, screenwriter Bunny Baxter (George Wendt). Merrill faces severe repercussions, however, and is blacklisted. Already on rocky terms with his wife, Ruth (Annette Bening) and unable to work in film, theater or advertising, Merrill starts to waver in his principles.